The present invention relates to a conformal fuel tank and, more particularly, to a high pressure fuel tank made of flexible or rigid tubing which is curved and coiled to conform to irregular spaces available in vehicles or the like.
Conventionally, high pressure tanks have been constructed with a large cylindrical body and dome-type end caps. Such pressure tank construction precludes conformal shaping and efficient packaging in confined irregular spaces. As a result, high pressure fuel tanks have utilized relatively large amounts of open space in vehicles which could be used for other purposes or even eliminated from the vehicle design. Conventional pressure tanks are also susceptible to dangerous catastrophic failure when subjected to external damage owing to the large energy release rate associated therewith. A vehicle or the like which uses a high pressure fuel tank or tanks often has a significant amount of open and unused irregularly shaped spaces which could be utilized for the storage of fuel.
Therefore, a need has been created for an economical, safe and effective conformal fuel system which can easily be shaped to fit into a variety of available irregular spaces in a vehicle or the like. The conformal fuel tank of the present invention meets this need.